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Pregame interview with Charlie Manuel and Scott Sheridan

Pregame interview with Manuel and Sheridan

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Scott, if you could tell us what's going on with Pat (Burrell).

SCOTT SHERIDAN: Sure. I figured that would be a good question to start with.

Pat obviously injured his back a little bit yesterday in batting practice. Felt significantly better after batting practice yesterday. If you want to diagnose it, it's a low back strain is probably the most easiest term to give you.

Obviously this morning we got here at 8:00, started working on him. He feels pretty good. We're going to progress him along, take batting practice and see how he feels and we'll go from there.

I don't know whose call this is, but if he hits okay and feels okay, will he start today or will he be available.

CHARLIE MANUEL: Right now I've got two lineups. He's going to go through BP, and got him at one, the other one at -- and we'll go from there. If he says he's -- it's up to me to determine exactly what he's telling me and how much I think he can do.

And I think we'll know more after he takes batting practice and stuff.

Is he affected in anything besides hitting? Does it affect him running in the outfield, running the bases or have you tested that yet?

SCOTT SHERIDAN: We went out this morning, did some running with it. He did fine with that. I think the only thing he's concerned about is making sure he's 100 percent for swinging.

What kind of treatment were you giving him?

SCOTT SHERIDAN: You know, I mean, this morning we basically got him warmed up, did some exercises with him, did some other modality stuff with him. Certainly Pat's been through this before. He's pretty familiar with the routine. It's not too hard to get him educated and through some things.

Scott, has Pat had any back problems in the past? Has he been affected by this at all this year or in the past?

SCOTT SHERIDAN: No, he hasn't had anything this year. When he was at University of Miami he had a history of some back problems there. But since then obviously -- he's been through this. He knows how to take care of his core and things.

Pat's real sharp when it comes to this stuff and how he takes care of himself. It makes it a lot easier to get him a feel for how he's doing or if he's ready to play or not.

Did he injure it actually taking a swing?

SCOTT SHERIDAN: Yeah, it was the last swing yesterday, that's where he felt it in batting practice.

Charlie, if Pat can't go, who do you have in the outfield, and, Scott, is there a risk of him if he plays he could injure it worse and make this thing that's more lingering the next few games and maybe down the road?

CHARLIE MANUEL: If Pat can't go, Stairs will play right field and Werth will go to left if he can't go.

SCOTT SHERIDAN: That's a concern. That's why Charlie and I met this morning. Our biggest thing is to make sure we put him in place to succeed. We don't want to put him out there to fail. And Pat obviously wants to play. That's the biggest thing. But if we have to protect him for a day so that we can go forward the rest of the series, then that's what we'll do.

On that line, Charlie, with a righty going today and obviously C.C. going tomorrow, is it more important for you to have Pat ready for tomorrow even if it means keeping him out today?

CHARLIE MANUEL: I think you're probably right. I think tomorrow, get down to it, it's probably more important. Although, he hit a home run off this guy last year in the game he played.

Charlie, on that note, with C.C. going tomorrow and knowing how excitable Brett can get, is there any plan to address Brett's, I don't know, mental state? How do you, I guess, modulate how Brett takes the mound tomorrow?

CHARLIE MANUEL: I think tomorrow is a long ways off and we've been playing every day. We're an everyday team. Think anything about tomorrow it will come from after the game. I think -- I'm pretty caught up in today's game. Like anything, we want to do about tomorrow, once this game is over today, after we win this game and it's over, then we'll start thinking about tomorrow (smiling).

After Pat takes batting practice and you figure you're not going to start him, would you hesitate to use him in a pinch hitting situation tonight?

CHARLIE MANUEL: I don't know about that because if he can't start the game, I don't know if he'll be able to hit or not, because he'll sit there and he won't be loose. Hard for him to get loose and everything. I'm saying that might be tough.

Can you talk a little bit about your decision to keep Happ on the post season roster instead of Seanez? I guess you're looking at you may need him as a long man?

CHARLIE MANUEL: That was the toughest decision we had to make. The decision played a big part in our season, especially early on and all the way up through until about July, and then he hit a little down period, and he definitely did a tremendous job for us. Like I said, that's a tough decision.

Happ was left on the roster in case we need what you call a long guy real early, and also if we get into a situation where the game goes extra innings and we need a multiple inning guy, he'll go in and finish the game out. And that's basically why we kept him.

Also to have Golson on the roster who you could possibly use as a pinch runner, you have So Taguchi. Can you talk about why you chose So?

CHARLIE MANUEL: He's been here all year. He can bunt. He can put the ball in play. And also he can go first to third, second, second to home. He's not the runner that Golson is, but at the same time he's got more experience and it's also putting Golson into a big -- into a tough situation.

And I feel like right now Golson needs more experience in playing. And I think that you're asking a whole lot if you keep him and like you put him in a situation where he hasn't been there before.

Scott, will Pat wear any sort of wrap or support or anything, is there anything you can give him to help him through or he either goes or he can't?

SCOTT SHERIDAN: You know, we'll evaluate that. We have some different garment type things available for him that we'll probably try with him. But sometimes these things are more comfort issues for them; they're not comfortable having it on, they won't wear it. So we have some things that we've talked to him about using. But I'm not really sure which way he's going to head with that.

Victorino's shin?

SCOTT SHERIDAN: It's a contusion. He should be fine today. He was in here yesterday and the last few days for treatments. He says he feels fine. He's got stiffness where he got hit, but otherwise everything is fine right now.